Piston travel exceeds block?

I got a 2002 Grand Prix 3.8 Liter engine from the junkyard the other week.I tore it down to put gaskets on it and if you turn the crank,the TDC of the piston goes up further than the top of the block.Is this supposed to be?I didn't know if the block was machined down at one time.The front part of the block (where the pulleys are) has chunks out of the metal on top on both sides,but the back doesn't have chunks out of it.The pistons stickup over the block about a gasket thickness I didn't measure it yet,but it looks like it is very close to hitting the bottom of the heads if it would be running.I thought the piston was supposed to travel no further than flush with the top of the block.

It would help to post whether this is a L67 supercharged or L36 NA SII 3800 engine. Regardless what you see it is normal. It looks weird but thats the way it is. BTW - The head gasket thickness is .062".

It is a "K" code or a regular series 2. I had the heads off of engines before and was never at TDC or didn't take notice to the height of the piston.

Here is a pic I scanned in from my 3800 engine rebuild manual. Did you check all 6 pistons?


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/lizzywiz/sii3800_engine_piston_02.jpg

Yes, all cylinders overshoot the block.

by how far estimate? an 8th of an inch?

about 1/16". Thats probably gasket thickness, bnaylor said thickness was .062. I was just worried,because I've had heads off of engines before and had #1 piston at TDC and never saw or noticed this before.

Do you have access to another block to inspect like at a salvage yard?

1/16" is around .062" or 1.5mm. About what the gap of a spark plug is.

I'm quite sure this is normal and has something to do with the higher compression ratio provided by the pistons in a L36 engine. Did you use a feeler gauge or other source of accurate measurement to see how much the pistons come up over the top of the block?